90 Day Fiance fans are keenly aware that some of the people on their screens are simply not good people.
But none of the other members of the cast sink to the monstrous depths of Geoffrey Paschel.
In 2019, shortly before he began filming for the franchise, Geoffrey was arrested for the brutal beating of his then-fiancee.
Now, more than two years later, he is finally going to trial.
90 Day Fiance viewers were, in many cases, left without an explanation when Geoffrey Paschel and Varya Malina did not appear on their season’s Tell All.
After all, the Before The 90 Days couple had attracted a lot of interest to their story, especially when it featured a love triangle.
But Geoffrey’s disinvitation from the Tell All followed an intense fan campaign to fire the accused wife-beater and rapist.
On June 9 of 2019, Geoffrey Paschel was arrested for charges of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault, and interference with an emergency call.
He is accused of brutally beating his then-fiancee, Kristen Wilson and preventing her from leaving or calling for help.
Her face and body covered in swelling bruises and bleeding wounds, she was later able to escape to a neighbor for safety and to call 911.
Initial reports had described Kristen as Geoffrey’s girlfriend at the time, but she was actually his fiancee.
All of this happened a very short time before Geoffrey flew out to meet Varya Malina in Russia.
On Wednesday, October 6, Geoffrey Paschel’s trial began in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The trial is being livestreamed by Court TV, but please be aware of how gruesome and upsetting some of the evidence is.
The defense’s opening statement included Geoffrey’s attorney claiming that Kristen’s injuries were “self-inflicted.”
Geoffrey’s attorney insisted that Kristen had hit her head against a door frame after drinking.
What we are about to show you is just one small look at the physical injuries that Kristen sustained.
These photos, evidence presented at Geoffrey’s trial, are extremely upsetting and show injuries to many parts of Kristen’s body.
You can see more evidence as hosted by the good folks at Starcasm on their Instagram page.
We can see extensive cuts, bruises, and enough swelling to distort the profile of her face.
According to the initial police report, Geoffrey allegedly forced Kristen to wipe away the blood and flush the blood-soaked wipes after the initial assault.
However, the swelling and bruising only worsened in the days after (since that is how bruises and swelling work).
Meanwhile, Geoffrey’s attorney insisted that it was physically impossible for Kristen’s head to have been bashed against the floor as she had described.
He also claimed that the assault could not have lasted as long as it did, or the injuries would have been more severe.
Geoffrey’s lawyer also stressed the claim that she had consumed “strongly poured cocktails” before sustaining these wounds.
The prosecution’s first witness called to the stand was the neighbor.
This is the person to whom Kristen fled the moment that she had a chance, who let her in and called 911.
The neighbor testified that Kristen showed up looking like “she had been in some kind of accident.”
When Kristen testified, she recounted the horrors of that vicious attack — entirely consistent with our previous coverage of the police report.
Kristen also shared some information that, though not new to the court or attorneys involved, is new to the public.
One of those pieces of information was that she and Geoffrey had been engaged for months at the time.
(Seriously, we wonder what the exact timeline of things with Varya Malina and with Mary were and how they match up to this)
Kristen had initially begun dating Geoffrey as far back as 2017, but they broke up in early 2018.
That breakup was a dispute over whether or not they were monogamous, as Geoffrey at the time did not agree to be.
Additionally, Kristen revealed that Geoffrey had not told her about all of his children and ex-wives.
She had to find out about them for herself, well into the relationship.
Given how many of Geoffrey’s exes (ex-wives and ex-girlfriends) have accused him of domestic violence, it’s no surprise that he wouldn’t be open about them.
At the time of the attack, Kristen was working as a fourth grade teacher.
She also clarified that she had only had Champagne before the attack, not “strongly poured cocktails.”
It was during her testimony that prosecution shared those horrific photos.
Another consistency with the initial police report was the presence of what look like carpet burns.
That lines up with descriptions of Kristen having been dragged through the house during the assault.
Similarly, blood smeared throughout the house, including on a light switch, lined up with Kristen’s words in her filing for an order of protection.
The officer who testified struggled to describe Geoffrey’s alleged injuries in a neutral manner.
Geoffrey claimed to have sustained “scratch marks,” but officers wrote in their initial reports that they were clearly self-inflicted.
On the stand, the officer described the marks by touching his own torso, in part because that is how he believes that they were sustained.
It is possible that the trial could have lapsed into a mistrial when the officer offered that opinion.
However, attorneys offered commentary during the livestream, sharing that Kristen accounted for herself well on the stand and was very believable.
Additionally, various legal experts weighed in to say that Geoffrey’s wounds did appear self-inflicted.
The jury of course did not hear that commentary.
Additionally, it doesn’t sound like the jurors will get to know about any of Geoffrey’s prior convictions.
So far, there is also no indication that they will hear in detail about his ex-wives or other exes who have accused him of similar abuse.
One curious aspect of the trial is that there has been no mention of the possible vandalism charge.
During Geoffrey’s arrest, he was so violent that he damaged the police cruiser and had to be subdued and restrained multiple times.
Given that there is almost certainly video evidence of this and how it highlights his temperament, it is unclear why this is not part of the prosecution’s case.